Welcome to VegasMessageBoard
It appears you are visiting our community as a guest.
In order to view full-size images, participate in discussions, vote in polls, etc, you will need to Log in or Register.

Table Games Blackjack Rules: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Oddly, I was up incredibly early this Sunday and couldn’t get back to sleep. So, as opposed to doing something worthwhile, I decided to fool around with the figures from my most recent copy of the Current Blackjack Newsletter (March 2013). Basically, I just copied everything to an Excel spreadsheet and then did a little sorting and number crunching. I wanted to find out which casinos offered the best and worst blackjack. I decided to focus on two different criteria – an overall weighted average of the house advantage and the percentage of 6:5 games offered vs. 3:2.

My results only take into consideration “traditional” blackjack. Spanish 21, Superfun 21, Double Attack BJ and BJ Switch were omitted. A few casinos offered a 7:5 game. I lumped those into the 6:5 category.

Mostly, things are pretty much as I expected. But a few things did surprise me. I’ll just post my findings and let you draw your own conclusions.

I’ve got info for off strip properties as well. I just haven’t had time to get to them yet. I also might get around to doing a “low roller” or “bang for the buck” ranking as well. Let me know if you have any interest in seeing something like that – or something else that I might be able to do without too much hassle.

Interesting collection. However, the only one I found interesting is the 'Over 50% 6:5 games'. The stat that really matters is the HA at the table YOU sit down at, and basically anywhere you can get (at minimum) a good shoe game with around a 0.5% house edge. But entering a casino with the huge percentage of 6:5 games can be annoying, looking for the one 'good' table.

BTW, the $25 2-deck S17 game at the Mirage (in front of the high-limit salon) is no more, AFAICT. There still was one table marked S17, but it was a 6-deck shoe.

These casinos don't hate you.
They don't think you are an idiot.
They don't take advantage of the idiots that are out there.
They offer a good gamble.

Okay, maybe a little dramatic of me, but I feel this way. Sure it only matters what table YOU sit down at like WrongWayWade said, but it does say something about the mentality of the casino. "We are the casino for serious, informed, gamblers."

i've seen 7:5 at the riv's "party pit," but that was more than a year ago, so i cannot confirm they still use 7:5. as for daytime, i was going to sit down one recent wednesday afternoon for 30 minutes, but in the otherwise dead casino they had $10 table minimums. i said screw them.

Binion’s and Four Queens are quite a drag on Downtown’s averages: Between the two of them, they account for 74.5% of all 6:5 games downtown! Without those two outliers, the average HA Downtown would be only .65% and only 8.28% of all BJ games would be 6:5.

I’m not a big downtown guy – someone help me out…how do they get away with offering games that would make Gary Loveman blush when there are good games 100 feet away?

I'm surprised about Binions. I had no idea it was like that. But with over 80% 6:5 games they haven't just soiled Benny Binion's name they shat all over it.

Click to expand...

Binions is among the worst DT, not one playable game under $25 in the place. haven't played a hand there in several trips(and I do check them out every time). 4 Queens does have a decent $10 2 deck game, but only one table - have to look for it.

Thanks for running these numbers and posting the results. I guess this shows that other than the El Cortez, the higher the minimum the better the game. The top casinos on your list are all very expensive to play.

Not saying you should do this, but I'd like to see a chart that shows where the best rules and cheapest minimums intersect.

That's true. It was more a comment on how the casino's are scrambling the game by using different payouts. We've all heard of 6:5 but I've never heard of 7:5 before and was a bit surprised.

From my experience at Binion's (and 4 Queens), most if not all tables are 6:5. If they do have a 3:2 table open, it's usually a large table minimum or you can only double on 10 or 11. It seems to me it's been like that for about the past 2 years.

Do the casinos with the lower house edge generally have higher table limits, since they're the more upscale establishments?

Click to expand...

Generally, yes.

But don't say "casinos" say "individual tables within casinos" because rules vary greatly within the same casino. You must shop around, even within one casino, for the best rules at a level you are comfortable playing in.

Also a list of the lower end properties on the Strip and Downtown. They figure their guests will be less discriminating when it comes to gaming odds.

Four Queens / Binion's is short on cash, but they do offer one of the best VP games in the Vegas area (FP Progressive DB) and solid $0.25 and $1 9/6 JOB.

Binion's & Four Queens typically offer one or two 3/2 shoe tables at $10 or $25. The other non Casino Royale properties also offer a couple of decent tables. O'Sheas and I believe Bill's eventually became 100% 6/5 as well before they meet the wrecking ball.

Not saying you should do this, but I'd like to see a chart that shows where the best rules and cheapest minimums intersect.

Click to expand...

Okay, I took away all the games with minimums above $10.

According to the survey, Golden Nugget and Golden Gate are the only DT casinos with minimums above $10 (I don’t always trust the minimums that the survey posts). So, those were the only two casinos affected by taking away the higher minimum.

On the strip, it’s a different matter altogether. Palazzo falls out of the top ten because it does not offer a game at less than $15/hand. And, Encore moves…UP several spots in the HA category and ENTERS the “zero 6:5 games” list. LOL...I guess after a couple bottles of Goose, the club kids aren’t too picky about which games they play!

A bit unrelated but I am looking at the sample CJBN on their site from 2010 and for some of the higher tier casinos it says they use a computer to evaluate your blackjack skill. Anyone know what they're referring to? They don't provide any further info.